I've had enough!!!

[catinhat]

After waiting almost a year for my pair of false perc's to host something I gave them there final option. I scooped those cute puppies up and trapped them in a basket over one of my anemones. If they don't get the idea from this I don't think they are going too. After a few hours of being in there they still refuse the anemone! I think I'll leave them there over night and see what happens. If nothing I think I'll just have to trade them in.

[Elliot22288]

Wait wait... what kind of an anenome is it?

[catinhat]

There natural host the carpet. It's not hungry so I don't think it will eat them. They also have a bubble but they have never looked at it twice.

[catinhat]

It's a green carpet but it's a pretty blueish green.

[BonsaiNut]

Don't give up hope. I would bet $100 your clowns are tank-raised. Because tank-raised clowns are rarely raised with anemones, they reach juvenile age without any experience with anemones and often adapt "anemone-nesting" behavior like huddling next to skimmer boxes, LPS corals, etc.

Contrast this with clowns from the wild -- clownfish are NEVER seen away from anemones in the wild. If they do not find an anemone immediately at a very young age, they are toast.

So the behavior is there, just buried deep in their fishy subconcious. Once they figure out what an anemone is, they should take to it readily enough :) Just don't expect them to know what it is immediately :)

[BonsaiNut]

BTW, your anemone appears to me to be a nice looking haddoni. I have found them to be very hardy (in my opinion almost hardier than BTAs) but they are also notorious fish-eaters. I have kept haddonis in reef tanks for years, but you may find yourself with "missing fish" syndrome if you aren't careful. I would highly recommend night-lighting, as well as a gradual day-night transition in lighting, to allow other fish to avoid blundering into the anemone.

[catinhat]

Well they made it through the night and the female seemed to push the anemone around abit but once let out there back to what they did before. Yes these are TR. I thought I was doing the good reefer thing when I bought them. :mad:

[jacobdol]

ok, here we go... haddoni is not a natural host of f.perculas...:eek1:
these are:
Stichodactyla gigantea
Stichodactyla mertensii
now, if your fish is tank raised, it might take them even longer to take to an anemone.
with your haddoni you have 50/50 chance.

[catinhat]

Yes, I realize that. I couldn't find either one of those anywhere! Not even online. And I wasn't going to buy a ritter. But for fish that will host with a hair brush mine seem to be short a few marbles. They don't care for my bubble. They didn't care about my LT anemone. I think I'll just have to trade them in on a true pair that know what an anemone is.

[catinhat]

Well maybe there is hope after all. My female doesn't want to live in it but seems to like it under it.

[BonsaiNut]

If she stays "under" the anemone she is as good as in it :) Give her some time she will be rolling in it in a few days. Watch especially at night :)

[cyclgrl]

There is hope for tank raised clowns. Mine is a TR tomato; he took to my LTA within 2 weeks.

[desdemona2]

The basket thing might work. Not that I have had any experience with this.
Another thing I have heard is that you put a clown lettuce clip near the anemone. The percs are rather dull witted fish and decide it is ok.

--des

[Flameangel]

I have had my own frustrations with perc. Several years ago I purchased a pair of wild caught perc. They lived in a frogspawn (no other options) I moved in a Rose anemone, after about four years, and put it in the exact place as the frogspawn. I moved the frog spawn to another tank. They moved into a Caulaustrea. (Go figure!!!) The female for some unknown reason died one day. I waited about 4 months and I purchased three tank raised babies. I put the three into a separate tank with a carpet, a rose anemone, a caulaustreas and a frog spawn. In two months they never showed any interest in any of them. I moved two into my nano reef, and I moved the third into the tank with the single perc, who had turned female in 4 months. The two bonded in about two days and the baby was sleeping in the Caulaustrea in about 2 more days. (Still no interest in the anemone) The two young perc in the nano reef have a green bubble tip, torch coral, frogspawn and caulaustrea to pick - so far they sleep near the heater!

In contrast, I purchased a pair of wild caught black saddlebacks - they found the carpet anemone in 2.3 minutes after being added to the tank!

I do think this is one improvement that the breeders could make - somehow introduce these babies to an experienced clownfish and anemones.

However, I must say that captive raised babies are the nicest little fish I have ever purchased. Them come right to the top of the tank, they have no fear of people and love attention.

Good luck!
Connie

[catinhat]

Yea, I've had this pair for about a year without them showing interest in anything. I think this last experiment was a step in the right direction. The female will now get the anemone to move by scooting it with her nose and seems to be semi protective of her spot. So far the only touching going on is with her nose. kind of like she is pruning it. She's not rolling in it or "playing" in it. The male on the other hand still has no clue but when ever he comes over to check on what she is doing she chases him off. They both went back to sleeping behind the overflow last night. But they are showing improvement which buys them some more time.

[jacobdol]

that is a good sign. This is how they get used to an anemone- by biting or sucking the tentacles.

[wanareef]

I had ordered a green bta with a couple of tomato's, tank raised. Once in the tank it took maybe 60 minutes to find it. Then I added a rose bta from a trade on the other side of the tank and now they take turns living in each one. The female comes over and somehow tells the male to change anonomes. :D
Good Luck

[Shia]

This might not help you, but I had the same problem with my false percula. He refused to go into my S.Haddoni until it got sick. Their was an oven fire in my house and apparently talking to Dr. Ron the harsh fumes were enough to pollute the water. The anemones stomach began to come outside of the mouth. It was out for about 1 week. Amazingly the clown saw that and slowly swam to the anemone. Sure enough the anemone got better, and now I can't even move the clown away from his anemone.

Another thing I have read on these threads, is some people took pictures of clowns and taped them next to where the anemone was. Some of the time the clown saw it and went to the anemone, and other times they couldn't care less. For me this didn't, but it might work for you.

[prevyet]

Shia - The healthier the anemone the stronger the nemocysts. I have seen clowns when first trying to host to a healthy anemone get a cloudy eye and white puffy lips from the stings. If your anemone was sick it might have been weak enough to let the fish in until the fish became immune to the cysts. Just a guess. You can check the health of an anemone by how sticky the tenticles are.

Catinhat - If it is pushing the tenticles with its nose or looks like it is chewing them then it is only time and she be in it. Once the other sees she in the anemone it will follow. Keep us posted